The upcoming 2016 presidential election has been one like this country has never had before and up until this point, I have voiced my opinions often but never truly expressed my thoughts (especially publicly) until now.

One of the many ideas President George Washington tried to precedent for our newborn nation was to prevent the nation from conforming into two basic political parties. Now over two hundred years later, here we are with Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, and one will be the forty-fifth president of the United States. I have to say, I might be more than a little worried.

This country was founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These things are commonly known as "The American Dream." I interpret this philosophy as, achieving prosperity through life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness along with our basic human rights that our founders set for us so long ago. One of these rights is the right to vote and hold our government accountable for our well-being as a whole nation.

Personally I think our presidential elections have lost respect. Instead of addressing major and minor issues of all matters, we’ve turned them into popularity contests, especially this year. Come to think of it, in my eighteen years of life, I don't think I've ever witnessed a campaign where the two major candidates haven't trashed the other's name for their own personal advantage. And if one really thinks about it, it is kind of a sick message to send to the public - to trash someone else to make yourself look better - classy. Of course, the evil of all, politics, will produce some bashing and denote of the opposing candidate. At this day in age avoiding that ridicule is nearly and really considered impossible.

Now while Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton can provide for some entertainment, I believe they’re only focused on making themselves look better than the other for their voters. So many people have jumped on the "Trump Train" due to his uber-conservative platform and his mouth that more often than not acts before his brain. Yet, on the other hand, so many support Hilary even though she has been investigated by her own government and could quite possibly be to blame for the American lives lost due to those mysteriously deleted emails.

Every four years, after every election, the complaints start. Our nation starts to blame the elected officials every single time after something starts to go wrong. In case anyone forgot, officials are elected in the United Staes. Not only are they elected, but they are elected by us, the people of the United States. But I think we as a nation have failed to complete one of our duties… to hold our government and elected officials accountable. This is one of the wonderful things about our American Democracy, we are allowed to choose who we want to run our nation. So maybe when complaints come about during the elections or even after, we as a society should reflect back on ourselves and our decisions on who we elect. This also means we are able to select candidates that we want, candidates that are more suitable than a mouthy reality TV star and a corrupt former First Lady.

The goal of every candidate whether they be a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, etc. should be one simple statement: to better the United States for the well-being of every The woman, man, child, and immigrant, that reside within its borders. And until our nation finds those candidates and elects those people, can we blame the American Government for all of our problems? Or do we need to reflect back on ourselves and the choices we make about who we allow running our nation? There is a solution and it starts with being an informed and educated voter. Our nation can only improve, when voters start making educated decisions.